


like a revelation

by throughfire



Series: Buck and Eddie [7]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/throughfire/pseuds/throughfire
Summary: In which Maddie is confused by Buck and Eddie's relationship status, until someone makes her realize that she shouldn't be.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Buck and Eddie [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630543
Comments: 122
Kudos: 1140





	like a revelation

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to book club, wherin the not-at-all-author follows up her love for Neruda (see part five in this series) with her love for Carl Sagan, and ultimately forces her characters to love him too. 
> 
> I don't quite know what my strength as a not-quite-writer is yet, but writing from an outsider's point of view definitely isn't it, so bear with me with this one.

The firehouse is warm. Maddie was only supposed to drop Chimney’s forgotten wallet off and then go right home to decompress after her shift – perhaps take a nap to make the most of her free afternoon – but the firehouse is _warm_. The sun is shining in through the windows and the entire atmosphere is calm and quiet, comfortable to breathe in.

She _was_ on her way out, was pressing one last, lingering kiss to Chimney’s cheek and had every intention of going when Eddie saw her, greeted her cheerfully and extended the offer of coffee with a kind smile. Now she’s sat opposite him at a table upstairs, Chimney’s arm over the back of her chair, and her intentions have gone to sleep. Lacking interest, seeing no reason to prod her. She’s staying, at least for another few minutes. Maybe even until a call disrupts the warmth and steals the two men from her company.

They’ve been sat like that for twenty minutes, chatting away comfortably, when her brother joins them. He’s shuffling over with a tired expression on his face, rubbing sleep out of his eye rather roughly as he goes. His hair is matted, flat to one side of his head, and there are lines from an abandoned pillow pressed into one of his cheeks.

He smiles brightly at Maddie when he sees her, and she smiles back, feeling even warmer, even more settled now that he’s here. She opts not to say anything though, but simply keeps watching him approach while tuning back into the conversation at hand. She knows from a past-life childhood of early mornings spent together that it’s best to let Evan Buckley wake up on his own; not to disturb him until he’s found his footing in reality again.

“Hey, I want a rematch,” Chimney is saying, waving his hand along with his words behind Maddie’s back before resting it against her shoulder blade again. “You tell that kid that we should get together soon again so I can show him that I’m not a complete loser. I know my video games.”

Eddie’s laughing at him, though it’s kind. His eyes are kind. “Chris already knows you’re a loser, Chimney, it’s fine. He’ll definitely be happy to hang out with you anyway, though.”

All the while, Buck has reached their table. He’s toeing the only free chair closer to Eddie’s side and sinking down on it a moment later, landing heavily. His shoulder brushes against Eddie’s where they’re seated, their elbows knocking together when Eddie automatically pushes his mug along the tabletop towards Buck in a silent gesture, his attention still caught by the ongoing dialogue with Chimney.

Maddie watches on quietly as Buck hums out his appreciation, takes a sip of the coffee, and then leans even more heavily against Eddie’s side, yawning. The way Eddie responds is gentle and seamless, a smooth movement of his leg in the shadow of the conversation to add another point of contact of knee against knee under the table. They haven’t even looked at each other yet; it’s obvious that they don’t need to.

She has teased her brother about this before. About the unmistakable affection that lines every inch of Buck’s body if anyone as much as mentions Eddie’s name in his vicinity. She called it a boy crush in the beginning; thought of it as something fun and fleeting, something to tease him innocently about. It’s obvious that things have progressed, though. That the affection is still embedded in Buck, perhaps more vibrant than ever. What she’s seeing now is intimate and private, something quiet and soft and _theirs_. She almost feels bad for looking.

Eddie looks at his watch a few minutes later. Sighs, and straightens a little in his seat. Buck is still pressed tightly against him, is still looking a bit worn at the edges, but his eyes are clearer and his hands move animatedly now that he’s joined the discussion. He doesn’t notice Eddie’s movements; seems too assured by the presence beside him to question the fact that Eddie is actually moving, showing signs of leaving.

“Sorry to go when I was the one who made you stay for coffee,” Eddie’s saying, aiming that kind smile towards Maddie again. “I’ll see you tomorrow again though, right?”

Maddie finds herself grinning at him, about to confirm his question with an _of course_ when Buck interrupts the brief silence.

“You’re leaving?” he’s asking. There’s a frown present in the line between his eyebrows, in the curve of his mouth and in the low tone of his voice. He’s reached a hand out, seems to be pressing a finger to the side of Eddie’s thigh as though touching his pants will keep him there, stop him from leaving.

“My shift ended five minutes ago, Buck,” Eddie’s saying, smiling that kind smile again. It’s more private now though, and even softer. He’s looking at Buck for the first time since Buck joined them, and Buck’s looking back as though the rest of the world is unimportant for now. There’s trust in those eyes, battling disappointment.

“Oh,” Buck says. The frown deepens. “Didn’t realize I slept for that long.”

“It’s been a slow afternoon,” Eddie shrugs. “I’ve got to go pick Chris up from school. Promised him we’d swing by the bookstore on the way home.”

Buck’s smile is nearly as big as Eddie’s at the mention of the kid, though there’s a hint of sadness tainting Buck’s. A wistfulness to his entire expression when he looks at Eddie and says, “Without me, huh? I see how it is.”

Maddie’s not the only one attuned to her brother’s emotions, though. Not the only one reading between the lines, sensing shifts and swells of emotion. Instead of joking back, Eddie’s just pushing his chair back, detaching his arm from Buck’s but immediately pressing a palm to Buck’s shoulder instead, prolonging the contact as he stands.

“We can go twice this month, Chris absolutely won’t mind,” he murmurs. He leans down and punctuates the promise with a kiss to the top of Buck’s head, and then he’s walking away.

Buck opens his eyes slowly in the wake of him, and watches Eddie retreat down the stairs in silence. He still has Eddie’s gifted mug of coffee between his hands and there’s something vulnerable in his expression, something Maddie can’t remember seeing before.

“Family day out, huh?” Chimney offers after a moment, grinning knowingly. “Sounds like a good time.”

Buck smiles at him, unperturbed by the teasing. “It always is.”

Maddie watches him take another sip of coffee, then leans forward with her chin in her hand, asking, “Evan, why haven’t you told me?”

Buck lowers the mug, furrowing his brows again. “Told you what?”

“That you and—” she cuts herself off, mirroring her brother’s confusion because Buck seems genuinely unaware of what it is she’s hinting at. She glances sideways at Chimney for some sort of help to push the conversation forward, to navigate this unexpected bump in the road, but her boyfriend’s just sat there doing a terrible job of hiding his grin in the palm of his hand while simultaneously shaking his head as though he’s agreeing with her bafflement.

She sighs and leans back into the harbor of Chimney’s arm again. Says; “Nothing. I must have gotten things mixed up.”

*

Athena and Bobby’s house is overflowing with people the next evening. Families, friends and distant colleagues coming together to this source of warmth and happiness, kindness and care. There is music playing at a low volume in the background, and comfortable white noise made up of conversations filling up the room. Maddie is standing comfortably to the side of it all, drinking it in, when Buck walks over to her.

She doesn’t recognize the sweater that he’s wearing, but it suits him. Brings out his eyes. “Did you go shopping just for tonight?”

“What?” Buck hums, though the words fall into place in his mind a moment later, making him look down at his own chest. He pats at the center of his stomach with a hand that is half-covered by the sleeve of the sweater, looking cozy. Comfortable. His cheeks are stained a healthy pink. “Oh, uh, no. It’s Eddie’s.”

Maddie can feel one of her eyebrows raise in immediate response; the fourteen-year-old in her suddenly desperate to tease her brother about the boy he so obviously likes. Yesterday afternoon is still clear in her mind though, the genuine confusion Buck had displayed making her suppress the urge to tease him because she knows that it won’t lead to anything – that any attempt to embarrass him will only lead to more confusion rather than adorable bashfulness.

“It looks good on you,” she says instead, patting herself mentally on the back for being so mature about it.

It’s clear that Eddie agrees with her when he arrives a mere couple of minutes later. He looks over as soon as he’s moved out of Bobby’s greeting hug, and ends up freezing briefly with his gaze stuck on Buck’s torso, looking a bit dumbstruck.

A moment later, Chimney is shouting Christopher’s name from across the room, effectively breaking Eddie out of his trace and alerting Buck of the Diaz boys’ arrival. He turns to look towards the front door, and then he visibly brightens. Beams. Concentrated happiness is radiating off of him, making him bounce excitedly on the spot like a puppy who’s trying desperately not to pounce on the guests right at the front door.

Maddie clears her throat to cover up her laughter, but lets her heart swell with warmth at the sight and keeps on watching the scene unfold in silence.

Chimney has swept Chris up in a hug and is talking animatedly with the boy and Bobby, allowing Eddie to move further into the room on his own. He stops briefly to greet Athena, hands her a bouquet of flowers and one of those charming smiles, and then he continues onwards towards Maddie and Buck. There’s still a gift left in his hand, held securely with his hand against the side of his thigh.

“Hey,” he says brightly, drawing Maddie in for a quick, one-armed embrace. “That’s a beautiful dress.”

She gives him an extra squeeze to say thank you before letting go, smiling back at him. The charm is undeniable with him, his kindness utterly genuine. He’s the kind of person her brother deserves to have in his life, whether the relationship is romantic or platonic, and she finds it hard to stop smiling even after his attention has shifted over to Buck.

Their embrace is long, tight. It’s all aligning bodies and lingering palms while their affection mingles between them, thrives in the minuscule space they let in between their torsos once they part.

“Here,” Eddie hums, thrusting the package he carried Buck’s way. “I picked this up for you yesterday, thought you might like it.”

The gift is a rectangle wrapped neatly in white silk paper; no doubt a book. Buck already looks grateful for it, accepting it with gentle hands and holding it carefully while looking up at Eddie as though he’s the sun.

“Thank you,” he says quietly, _softly_. It’s so soft that Maddie almost feels bad for listening, for intruding.

Buck starts removing the paper carefully, unwrapping slowly as not to rip the paper. It’s so unlike the boy she grew up with, so different from the kid who used to let his excitement rush him through life.

Maddie recognizes the cover of the book as soon as she sees it. More nostalgia from their shared childhood flashes through her mind while Buck audibly inhales in reaction to his gift, reuniting with their past in his own way.

He’s gone all wide-eyed and quiet, with awe shining in his eyes. His fingers, still peeking out from the sleeve of his borrowed sweater, are touching the letters of the title reverently, spelling out _Pale Blue Dot_ in silent amazement.

“This was my favorite when I was a kid,” he’s murmuring, quiet in the shadow of music and joyful chatter, but loud in Maddie’s heart. Happiness echoing between the walls of that organ at the very sight of these emotions on her brother’s face, at the meaning welling up in his voice when he speaks. “It even made me want to be an astronaut for a while.”

Eddie, visibly hanging on to every word, looks just as touched as Buck does. A bit relieved and utterly happy, because it clearly means that much to him to be able to make Buck so happy. The fondness is almost palpable in his voice when he says, “Yeah, you’ve mentioned that before.”

“You remembered that?” Buck asks softly – less question and more emotion, as though it means that much to him that Eddie listens to him and cares about what he says.

Eddie tilts his head, smiles. ”Of course I do.”

Unguarded, no attempt to joke in order to dispel the thick presence of emotion between them. It means that much to him, to both of them. They mean that much to each other.

Buck, still a child at heart, does rush then. Spurred by that emotion – by his own courageous heart – he lurches forward and draws Eddie in for another, lingering hug. He’s wary of the book; his hand being the only part of him not touching Eddie as they cling to each other, temples knocking together in silent hellos.

Maddie does look away, then. Tries to give them some space. She can hear Buck murmur a heartfelt _thank you_ , can hear the faint brushing of hands against clothing as they part another time, and when she finally looks back up again Buck is already moving away from them, staring at the book in his hand with that same, lingering amazement in his eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him so happy before,” Maddie ponders aloud, torn between joy and sorrow as the words manifest in the air. “So content in life. Thank you for being a part of that.”

Eddie looks over at her, his expression curious. “It was just a book.”

He doesn’t seem to be playing dumb – hasn’t struck her as the kind of person who’d ever duck away from a conversation like this or refuse to own up to emotions that he displayed so loudly just a moment ago.

She still gives him a pointed look, though. She still crosses her arms over her chest and tells him, “I wasn’t talking about the book.”

Eddie looks at her for a moment, seemingly waiting for her to explain herself. When he realizes that she won’t indulge him he just blinks at her, and then he smiles again.

“I’ll go grab something to drink,” he hums, unaffected. “Can I get you anything?”

In his absence, Athena appears. She’s already shaking her head, saying, “They have no idea, do they?”

Maddie looks at her with exasperation vibrating beneath her skin, bristling; “How can two people be _this_ clueless?”

Athena just gives her a look; loud and pointed. _They’re idiots, but we love them anyway_ , it’s saying, and it makes Maddie laugh. Makes her shake her head and change the topic, because as long as her brother is happy, she supposes that there’s no reason for her or anyone else to intervene just yet.

*

“Oh no. Can’t breathe,” Chimney groans when Maddie steps into the firehouse the next evening. He’s clutching dramatically at his own chest, taking a stumbling step towards her with a firehose still hanging off his shoulder. “Too beautiful. Absolutely stunning.”

Maddie laughs, brimming with fondness. She can feel her cheeks stain with pinkness, her heart flutter at the compliment. This man is still making her feel this special, this happy. He still makes her feel all warm inside just by looking at her like this, as though there is nothing he’d rather be looking at in the entire world.

“Hi,” she says, stepping up close to him. He kisses her swiftly; makes something soft swoop in her stomach.

“Hey,” he hums back, grinning. “My shift hasn’t ended yet, has it? I thought I had time to—”

“No, I’m early,” she assures him. “No rush, I’ll just wait upstairs.”

“Good,” he says, patting his makeshift bag. “I’ll get this out of the way and then I’ll get changed, it shouldn’t take long.”

“I told you,” she laughs, “no rush! Our reservation’s not for another hour anyway.”

She kisses his cheek once, then she heads up the stairs with the weight of his gaze sitting comfortably on her skin all the way.

She’s managed to come at a quiet time of day again; there’s barely any activity in the open spaces and the entire place is bathing in silence.

Hen is sat on one of the couches. She has a half-eaten apple in one hand, and is already waving Maddie over with the other one. Her smile is wide and welcoming, making Maddie wish that she came here more often – spent more time with these people the way she’s managed to do these past few days.

“Date night, right?” Hen says when Maddie has taken a seat next to her. “Chim told me you’re going to some new Italian place – you’ll have to let me know whether it’s any good.”

“Of course,” Maddie promises, making herself comfortable. “I’ve been looking forward to going there for weeks.”

Eddie wasn't visible when she walked over here, but he’s mustering up a tired smile for her now, aiming it from his position on the other couch and rasping out a, “Hey.”

He’s lying flat on his stomach, his cheek pressed into the cushion beneath his face and his eyelids already drooping closed again. Maddie would ask why he’s not in one of the bunks instead, but he looks comfortable. 

It doesn’t take long for Buck to join them. He’s shuffling over with _Pale Blue Dot_ held securely in one hand, and his entire face brightens when he catches sight of Maddie.

“Hey sis,” he sing-songs. “Don’t think I’ve seen this much of you since we lived in the same house.”

She grins at him. Says, “I have to make sure that you’re behaving on the job, don’t I?”

Buck doesn’t rise to the bait, but simply keeps smiling at her, telling her, “It’s nice, though. I’m glad to see you so often.”

He has drifted towards Eddie’s couch while he’s spoken, and Eddie has cracked one eye back open to look up at him. Now Eddie is muttering, “What did you do, spend the entire night reading?”

He must be regarding the slip of paper sticking out between the pages, holding Buck’s place about halfway into the book and indicating that Buck, indeed, must have spent quite a lot of the past twenty-four hours pouring himself over those pages.

Buck is just smiling down at Eddie in response, a bit of a self-deprecating curve to his lower lip. “I couldn’t put it down. It’s been so long since I read it, it brought back so many memories of being a kid, wanting to explore the planets.”

“Did you have a favorite?” Eddie asks, lifting his head and supporting himself on his forearms, squinting cutely up at Buck. “One you wanted to go to more than the others?”

“Jupiter,” Buck admits. “It’s the biggest one – the possibilities there seemed endless. Then when I got older and learned that Mars seemed to be more hospitable, that was enticing too.”

Eddie smiles; fondness radiating off of him. “I always liked the one with the rings. Saturn?”

“Saturn’s not the only one with rings you know,” Buck happily supplies, beaming with excitement at the topic, shining under Eddie’s interest and attention. “Saturn’s are just more visible. Move a little.”

Eddie just frowns cutely in reply. He seems to be slowed down by his own sleepiness, too tired to catch up with Buck’s words and do as asked. In the end he stays exactly as he were, but Buck still manages to fit himself in the sliver of space between Eddie and the armrest of the couch, looking pleased with himself.

Maddie chances a quick, sideways glance at Hen and realizes that the half-eaten apple is still hanging forgotten from her fingertips. Hen is openly watching the interaction before them, smiling at the unfolding scene with a gentle and knowing quirk of her lips. She must have seen this before; is glowing with fondness as though she’s past the stage of exasperation and simply enjoying the will-they-won’t-they dance of it all.

“Thanks,” Buck’s saying next, dragging Maddie’s attention back to the two men on the other couch. Her brother is openly admiring Eddie’s face, his gaze visibly tracing lines and features while the precious book lies forgotten in his lap. Eddie looks back; looks just as fond.

Then Buck blinks; seemingly catches himself, and asks tentatively, “Wanna hear about the largest volcano in the solar system? It’s on Mars.”

Eddie hums out a confirmation. A moment later he’s laying his head on Buck’s thigh and sighing out contentment with his hands curled beneath his own chest. His eyes have already slipped shut again, and he looks entirely peaceful.

Buck opens the book to the right page, swallows, and starts to read quietly about Olympus Mons. He absentmindedly rests his free hand atop Eddie’s head and lets his fingertips move gently over the short hair, offering comfort. _Returning_ comfort where Eddie so unquestionably serves as a source of comfort for Buck on a daily basis.

Eddie is asleep within minutes, and Maddie is almost scared to breathe, scared to shatter the moment, because the calm that has overtaken Buck is something that she hasn’t seen before. She wants to photograph the moment, wants to hang it on her fridge at home with the caption: _this is my brother, happy_.

Chimney comes up to them, then. He doesn’t even bat an eye at the scene, just asks, “How are you planning on getting out of there without waking him? You’ll be stuck like that until the next call.”

Buck just shrugs. “I’m not in a rush to go anywhere.”

He looks relaxed. Entirely content in his corner of the couch, with Eddie sleeping away on his thigh, under his hand. He’s already gone back to reading after Chimney’s brief disruption, though he’s doing it quietly now, with a smile playing on his lips and his thumb brushing slowly at Eddie’s temple.

Maddie wants to ask again – wants to know when this happened because it obviously is _something_. The two of them cannot _possibly_ be unaware of what is going on between them, and she wants to know why Buck hasn’t told her about it – how he can sit there and display his affection so loudly, so vibrantly, but not address it with actual words.

She doesn’t want to disturb the moment, though, or taint her brother’s happiness by questioning it. Not right now. Right now she wants to go on a date with her boyfriend, wants to gaze at him from across a table and feel just as stupidly in love as her brother looks every time he glances from the book to Eddie.

So she rises carefully. Murmurs a few parting words and the promise of catching up again soon to Hen, and then she slips her hand into Chimney’s awaiting one. It’s a beautiful evening.

*

It’s not until Wednesday afternoon that she sees her brother again. Chimney picks her up from work and they head over to the store to get some groceries on their way over to Buck’s place. It’s a sunny day, they’re playing Cheap Trick on the radio, and she had a relatively calm and easy shift. She finds herself smiling, singing along loudly until Chimney joins in just as loud.

They wait outside the front door for over a minute, up to a point where Maddie starts wondering if she’s mistaken the day and shoves her hand into her purse in search for the spare key. Before she finds it, though, the door opens up to them, revealing a bright-looking Christopher.

“Hi Maddie,” he says, pushing the door open even wider. “Hey Chimney!”

“Hi Chris,” Maddie says, soaking up the warmth from that bright welcome. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Buck invited me and daddy over for dinner,” Chris tells her, moving aside to let them in. “He said you wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course we don’t,” Chimney chimes in from behind Maddie, excitement simmering in his voice. “We’re always happy to see you. Besides, this means I can finally get that rematch you promised me.”

“Only if you’re prepared to lose,” Chris teases him, his countering comment delivered seamlessly, but without actual heat. His smile is still wide, still so kind. A small, mirror image of his dad inside and out. “We have to wait though.”

“Wait for what?” Chimney asks. He glances around the kitchen area, and adds, “Where are your dad and Buck?”

Maddie leaves the bag of groceries on the nearest countertop and follows Chris and the background noise of animated voices to the living area. Finding Nemo is playing, forgotten, on the TV and there’s an iPad lying unlocked on the floor, seemingly abandoned when Chris got up to answer the door.

Buck and Eddie are lying on the couch together; Eddie on his back and Buck pressed in tight between Eddie’s body and he backrest, his head pillowed on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Oh,” Chimney offers, though his tone lacks any hint of surprise.

“They fell asleep twenty minutes ago,” Chris tells them. “I think we should let them be, they were _really_ tired.”

Maddie blinks at the scene before them, takes it in for another few seconds and then blurts, “That’s precious.”

Chris is moving forward, sinking down to the floor to rejoin his iPad. He lets out a noncommittal sound, says, “They’re always like that.”

“They cuddle a lot?” Chimney asks.

“They’re always together,” Chris clarifies. “They love each other.”

Maddie raises an eyebrow. “They’ve said that?”

It would make sense. If they’re acting the same way in front of Chris as they do in front of friends and colleagues, then they surely must have told the boy _something_. Chris is smart and curious; he wouldn’t let this slip him by. And he’d probably be thrilled to find out.

“They don’t _have_ to,” Chris supplies happily, grinning up at her with one hand suspended over the iPad, the other one pushing up his glasses. “ _Look_ at them.”

Maddie does. She’s looking even more carefully at the two men on the couch, now, taking in the details. Buck is wearing that blue sweater again, with the sleeve drawn tight over the knuckles of the hand that rests in front of his face on Eddie’s chest. Eddie’s arm is around Buck’s back, holding him close even in sleep. They’re intertwined all the way down to their toes, and they look entirely peaceful.

Christopher’s words – while few – are among the wisest ones Maddie has heard in a very long time, they make _that_ much sense. Because the stars, the sky and all the planets that Buck always talks so animatedly about, they can probably all see it from their perches far up and away. How perfectly these two men fit together, how much they care for one another, how the rest of the world seems to fade away when they are looking at each other. _How in love they are_.

They’ve all been questioning it. Not just Maddie, but Chimney, Hen, Athena and probably anyone who’s been in Buck and Eddie’s vicinity in the past few months. They’ve all been suspecting, hoping and wanting so desperately to have it confirmed, as though a confirmation is all that matters.

Christopher has understood what it’s all about, though. He’s been cleverer than all of them combined and realized that the confirmations have been there all along, spelled out in the little things, in the touches and the words and the lingering glances. Everything anyone could ever need to know about Buck and Eddie’s relationship is right there. Labelling it is unnecessary.

Buck and Eddie may not even have talked about it yet – it might be unspoken and unlabeled between them as well. It’s still obvious, though, that the two of them are thriving in whatever it is they have together, label or no label. The rest of the world should just let them be – let them be happy.

“You’re the smartest guy I know, do you know that?” Maddie hums, affection in her voice, in her heart.

“Yeah,” Chris grins. “Buck told me NASA would be lucky to have me.”

Chimney laughs. “He’s right.”

“I think I wanna be a doctor, though,” Chris adds, a bit more serious. “Help people the way you all do.”

Maddie has to blink thirty-seven times in order to dispel the threat of tears from her eyes. She goes back to the kitchen to put away the groceries for now, and allows herself a minute to just stand there, to breathe it all in, and takes a mental picture of the living room for her fictional refrigerator. Makes another mental caption that says: _This is my brother and Eddie, asleep. Those are Chris and Chimney, huddled together. They’re happy. It’s making me happy, too._

*

BONUS SCENE:

They moved to the kitchen table after a while, and Christopher has managed to explain a few of the most basic games on his device to them while they’ve nibbled on fruit and laughed at Chimney’s antics. It’s been a quiet hour, a comfortable afternoon. Something Maddie will cherish for a long time to come.

She’s getting up to grab herself some water to drink when she catches sight of movement in the living room. The movie has ended and the TV is coloring the room in hues of blue. It makes Buck and Eddie’s bubble seem even more private from a distance, even more intimate.

They’re sitting up on the couch now, though they’re still as intertwined as they were before. Buck still has a hand pressed to the center of Eddie’s chest, and Eddie is brushing fingers along Buck’s jawline. They’re looking at each other. Smiling, murmuring so softly that Maddie can’t hear them, but she can see the kisses they use to punctuate every other sentence, can see the bliss upon their faces every time they part to say something new.

The way they’re touching tells Maddie that this isn’t new, that one man’s hands knows the other one’s body well enough for this to have gone on for a while, but the infatuation is still palpable. Fresh. Almost overwhelming to watch. The way they adore each other in public transcends time and space; is as loud and vibrant when they are alone. They seem entirely content to stay like that forever, alone together, breathing each other in.

Until Chris joins them.

He makes his way past Maddie and walks confidently into the moment; doesn’t disturb it in the slightest because he belongs in it. He’s sure of his welcome, of the part that he plays in these men’s happiness.

Buck and Eddie bring him right in; lift him up between them upon the couch where they form a bigger and entirely complete unit, all while the room leans into them, into their warmth. The walls soak up their laughter.

It looks like family. _Feels_ like family. And Maddie is grateful for the fact that she’s here, that she gets to be a part of it.


End file.
